now to my point. (vo) jennifer granholm ... >>for every discouraged voter, there are ten angry ones taking action. trickle down does not work. in romney's world, cars get the elevator and the workers get the shaft.

that is a whole bunch of bunk. the powerful may steal an election, but they can't steal democracy.

(vo) during the debates, it's hard to know what candidates are thinking. unless, of course you've stood at the podium yourself. with governors granholm, spitzer, and vice president gore, watch the only truly experienced presidential debate coverage.

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(vo) what is said here could decide the election. current tv presents special event coverage of the presidential debate. with unrivaled analysis and commentary. >> you're going to hear that used as a major talking point. (vo) the only network with real-time reaction straight from the campaigns and from viewers like you. >> now that's politially direct. >>start the night with a special live edition of "talking liberally with stephanie miller" at 7 eastern. only on current tv. what we need are people prepared for the careers of our new economy. by 2025 we could have 20 million jobs without enough college graduates to fill them. that's why at devry university we're teaming up with companies like cisco to help make sure everyone is ready

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because enbrel, etanercept suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections tuberculosis lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores have had hepatitis b have been treated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. [ phil ] get back to the things that matter most. ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. [ doctor ] enbrel, the number one biologic medicine prescribed by rheumatologists. [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> eliot: good evening i'm

eliot spitzer, and this is view point. it was a slug fest. president obama and governor mitt romney fought it out toe-to-toe in last night second presidential debate. the president was control and in command, and perhaps not a day too soon. the gallup poll shows mitt romney with a six-point lead over the president, the biggest in the campaign. those numbers don't reflect what happened in last night's debate. these do. 48% of registered voters say the president won the content compared to 33% for mitt romney. after the candidates came out and shook hands, the gloves came off and the fight began starting with jobs and the auto industry bailout. >> obama: when governor romney said that we should let we're going to bet on american workers american auto industry, and it has come surging back. >> romney: that's precisely what i recommended and what happened.

>> obama: candy, what governor romney said simply isn't true. he wanted to take them into bankruptcy without providing them any way to stay open, and we would have lost a million jobs. >> eliot: the president has hammered romney on the centerpiece of his campaign, his plan to cut taxes across the board to restore the economy. >> obama: we haven't heard from the governor any specifics beyond big bird and eliminating funding for planned parenthood in terms of how he pays for that. >> eliot: romney is taking his lumps on the issue of equal pay for women. last night the former massachusetts governor said he wanted women hired for top positions before he took office. >> romney: we could a took a concerted effort to find women who had the backgrounds to be qualified to be members of our cabinet. i went to a number women's groups can you help us find folks, and they brought us binders full of women. >> eliot: but according to the coalition groups at a fill those binders romney told the story

backyards. she told the "huffington post" that hiving top-level women was an initiative of women's organizations to make it be something that he had to follow through on. he didn't go out looking for these binders. romney also bled a bit when he dualed with the president over their personal investments. >> romney: mr. president, have you looked at your pension? mr. president, have you looked at your pension. >> obama: i don't look at my pension. it's not big as yours, it doesn't take me long. >> eliot: and romney struggled over the strike that killed four americans in ben gas did i. >> obama: the day after the attack i stood in the rose garden and told the american people of the world that we were going to find out exactly what happened. that this was an act of day after the attack that it was an act of terror? it was not a spontaneous demonstration, is that what you're saying?

>> obama: please proceed governor. >> romney: i want to make sure that we have that for the record because it took the president 14 days before he called the event in bengahzi an act of terror. >> he did call it an act of terror. >> obama: could you say that louder, candy. >> he did call it an act of color. >> eliot: this is what he said after the attacks of bengahzi. >> no acts of terror will shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for. >> eliot: this morning both running mates claim their man had won. >> the reason why i think mitt romney won this debate is because americans again, saw a leader with a plan to grow the economy and create jobs. >> i feel confident about my boss, i feel confident about guy. >> eliot: for more on the debate and the presidential campaign i'm joined by frank bruni with "the new york times." sum it up, give us your take

away with this battle that range raged for 90 minutes. >> it was hugely an important night for president obama. after his miserable performance in denver. his supporters and independent voters needed to see that spark and fight from him. i think that's why you see in these polls voters saying he won the debate. i don't think it's clear that him winning the debate means that he widened his lead or gained ground over all. often who wins the debate and what people voters have to say have to do with expectations going in. >> eliot: in the first debate that mirrored it, but it may not reset the campaign the same way the first debate hurt him. >> there were interesting numbers on cnn. they asked voters who won the debate. think obama had the advantage. and then who won the debate on the economy. romney had the edge.

who seemed like the stronger leader romney had the edge. when you ask who won the debate, and asking them where it leads them in terms of their vote are two different things. >> eliot: it's not clear which of those questions are causally linked to the vote. the president tried to do cross-examination on the governor last night, on the issue of the 8 trillion-dollar he calculated 8 trillion-dollar in costs in additional spending by romney. and governor romney has not given us any answers about how he's closing that huge gap, that chasm. can he do that throughout the rest of the campaign. >> i think president obama and democrats are hammering governor romney and paul ryan about that because it is a kind of remarkable thing. they're saying we're going to give everybody marginal tax break cut. be marginal, and we won't tell what you the loops holes are.

some of the only loopholes that get through, those are hugely popular deductions. if you did away with them, they would have very negative affects in other ways. i can't see how this math works. >> eliot: he has taken those off the table because if you were to eliminate those, the middle class would be hit very hard. and of (vo) what is said here could decide the election. current tv presents special event coverage of the presidential debate. with unrivaled analysis and commentary. >> you're going to hear that used as a major talking point. (vo) the only network with real-time reaction straight from the campaigns and from viewers like you. >> now that's politially direct. >>start the night with a special live edition of "talking liberally with stephanie miller" at 7 eastern. only on current tv.

>> eliot: good evening i'm eliot spitzer, and this is view point. it was a slug fest. president obama and governor mitt romney fought it out toe-to-toe in last night second presidential debate. the president was control and in command, and perhaps not a day too soon. the gallup poll shows mitt romney with a six-point lead over the president, the biggest in the campaign. those numbers don't reflect what happened in last night's debate. these do. 48% of registered voters say the president won the content compared to 33% for mitt romney. after the candidates came out and shook hands, the gloves came off and the fight began starting with jobs and the auto industry bailout. >> obama: when governor romney said that we should let detroit go bankrupt, i said we're going to bet on american workers american auto industry, and it has come surging back. precisely what

i recommended and what happened. >> obama: candy, what governor romney said simply isn't true. he wanted to take them into bankruptcy without providing them any way to stay open, and we would have lost a million our conversation is with you the viewer because we're independent. >>here's how you can connect with "viewpoint with eliot spitzer." >>questions, of course, need to be answered. >>we will not settle for the easy answers. [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> eliot: good evening i'm eliot spitzer, and this is view point. it was a slug fest. president obama and governor mitt romney fought it out toe-to-toe in last night second presidential debate.

the president and in command, and perhaps not a day too soon. the gallup poll shows mitt romney with a six-point lead over the president, the biggest in the campaign. those numbers don't reflect what happened in last night's debate. these do. 48% of registered voters say the president won the content compared to 33% for mitt romney. after the candidates came out and shook hands, the gloves came off and the fight began starting with jobs and the auto industry bailout. >> obama: when governor romney said that we should let detroit go bankrupt, i said we're going to bet on american workers american auto industry, and it has come surging back. >> romney: that's precisely what i recommended and what happened. >> obama: candy, what governor romney said simply isn't true. he wanted to take them into bankruptcy without providing them any way to stay open, and we would have lost a million jobs.

>> eliot: the president has hammered romney on the centerpiece of his campaign, taxes across the board to restore the economy. >> obama: we haven't heard from the governor any specifics beyond big bird and eliminating funding for planned parenthood in terms of how he pays for that. >> eliot: romney is taking his lumps on the issue of equal pay for women. last night the former massachusetts governor said he wanted women hired for top positions before he took office. >> romney: we could a took a concerted effort to find women who had the backgrounds to be qualified to be members of our cabinet. i went to a number of women's groups can you help us find folks, and they brought us binders full of women. >> eliot: but according to the coalition groups at a fill those binders romney told the story backyards. she told the "huffington post" that hiving top-level women was an initiative of women's organizations to make it be something that he had to follow through on. he didn't go out looking for these binders. romney also bled a bit when he president

over their personal investments. >> romney: mr. president, have you looked at your pension? mr. president, have you looked at your pension. >> obama: i don't look at my pension. it's not big as yours, it doesn't take me long. >> eliot: and romney struggled over the strike >>and now to my point. that is a whole bunch of bunk! the powerful my steal an election but they cannot steal democracy.

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eliot spitzer, and this is view point. it was a slug fest. president obama and governor toe-to-toe in last night second presidential debate. the president was control and in command, and perhaps not a day too soon. the gallup poll shows mitt romney with a six-point lead over the president, the biggest in the campaign. those numbers don't reflect what happened in last night's debate. these do. 48% of registered voters say the president won the content compared to 33% for mitt romney. after the candidates came out and shook hands, the gloves came off and the fight began starting with jobs and the auto industry bailout. >> obama: when governor romney said that we should let detroit go bankrupt, i said we're going to bet on american workers american auto industry, and it has come surging back. >> romney: that's precisely what i recommended and what happened.

>> obama: candy, what governor romney said simply isn't true. he wanted to take them into bankruptcy without providing them any way to stay have lost a million jobs. >> eliot: the president has hammered romney on the centerpiece of his campaign, his plan to cut taxes across the board to restore the economy. >> obama: we haven't heard from the governor any specifics beyond big bird and eliminating funding for planned parenthood in terms of how he pays for that. >> eliot: romney is taking his lumps on the issue of equal pay for women. last night the former massachusetts governor said he wanted women hired for top positions before he took office. >> romney: we could a took a concerted effort to find women who had the backgrounds to be qualified to be members of our cabinet. i went to a number of women's groups can you help us find folks, and they brought us binders full of women. >> eliot: but according to the coalition groups at a fill those binders romney told the story

backyards. she told the "huffington post" that hiving top-level women was an initiative of women's organizations to make it be something that he had to follow through on. he didn't go out looking binders. romney also bled a bit when he dualed with the president over their personal investments. >> romney: mr. president, have you looked at your pension? mr. president, have you looked at your pension. >> obama: i don't look at my pension. it's not big as yours, it doesn't take me long. >> eliot: and romney struggled over the strike that killed four americans in ben gas did i. >> obama: the day after the attack i stood in the rose garden and told the american people of the world that we were going to find out exactly what happened. that this was an act of terror. >> romney: you said in the rose garden the day after the attack that it was an act of terror? it was not a spontaneous demonstration, is that what you're saying?

>> obama: please proceed governor. >> romney: i want to make sure that we have that for the record because it took the president 14 days before he called the in bengahzi an act of terror. >> he did call it an act of terror. >> obama: could you say that louder, candy. >> he did call it an act of color. >> eliot: this is what he said after the attacks of bengahzi. >> no acts of terror will shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for. >> eliot: this morning both running mates claim their man had won. >> the reason why i think mitt romney won this debate is because americans again, saw a leader with a plan to grow the economy and create jobs. >> i feel confident about my boss, i feel confident about my guy. >> eliot: for more on the debate and the presidential campaign i'm joined by frank bruni with "the new york times." sum it up, give us your take

away with this battle that range raged for 90 minutes. >> it was hugely an important night for president obama. after his miserable performance in denver. his supporters and independent to see that spark and fight from him. i think that's why you see in these polls voters saying he won the debate. i don't think it's clear that him winning the debate means that he widened his lead or gained ground over all. often who wins the debate and what people voters have to say have to do with expectations going in. >> eliot: in the first debate that mirrored it, but it may not reset the campaign the same way the first debate hurt him. >> there were interesting numbers on cnn. they asked voters who won the debate. i think obama had the advantage. and then who won the debate on the economy. romney had the edge.

who seemed like the stronger leader romney had the edge. when you ask who won the debate, and asking them where it leads them in terms of their vote are two different things. >> eliot: it's not clear which are causally linked to the vote. the president tried to do cross-examination on the governor last night, on the issue of the 8 trillion-dollar he calculated 8 trillion-dollar in costs in additional spending by romney. and governor romney has not given us any answers about how he's closing that huge gap, that chasm. can he do that throughout the rest of the campaign. >> i think president obama and democrats are hammering governor romney and paul ryan about that because it is a kind of remarkable thing. they're saying we're going to give everybody marginal tax break cut. it will be marginal, and we won't tell what you the loops

holes are. some of the only loopholes that get through, those are hugely popular deductions. if you did away with them, they would have very negative affects in other ways. i can't see how this math works. >> eliot: he has taken those off the table to eliminate those, the middle class would be hit very hard. and of course he needs to say now and rightly so the middle class will not get a tax increase. >> it doesn't add up. >> eliot: it doesn't add up. it's arithmetic. this is not high theory oracle or calculuos. there has not been a concerted effort to force him to answer that question. >> i disagree with you. reporters have been asking him over and over again. and i think romney and ryan are refusing to answer it. one of the things that they're gambling on is that voters do such a cursory look at this stuff and not focus in. >> eliot: i guess what you're

saying, in the context of the political campaign where there is not a follow up that is afforded in a courtroom where a judge allows you to ask the question. >> the reporters can only ask the question so many times. voters hearing the refusal to answer it as keenly as you are. >> eliot: that's the right point. will the public see this evasive evasiveness, understand, and follow through. >> right. >> eliot: foreign policy, likewise, it seems behind the bellicose language that we hear from governor romney and paul ryan there is not a coherent foreign policy as it relates to syria, iran, libya none of these hot spots has governor romney said what he would do differently. >> i don't think there is a huge difference in foreign policy. that's the reason why you don't hear a lot of distinction. i don't think this campaign will turn on forge policy. i think there have been a lot of attention to bengahzi. voters have a tough time making sense of that. romney is right to hammer the president about it because it

creates the general impression is he as strong a leader that you need. but i don't think voters are going to vote on that. >> eliot: interestingly, romney, after he failed in that moment. that may be the emotional pivot >> i'm jennifer granholm. tonight in the war room, the president wipes the floor with mitt romney, the tigers wipe the floor with the yankees all is not right with the world but it's a hell of a start. [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> this year, there are 54 million women eligible to vote. 2.5 million more women than men. enough to decide the whole election. as november 6 draws near one women are doing a lot of thinking about about a lot of